Bhawana Somaaya

Not everyone is as fortunate to have a father like Kaifi Azmi and not everyone is fortunate to have a daughter like Shabana Azmi.

Sometime in the late 70s when the poet suffered a paralytic stroke, he decided to transfer his energy to the welfare of Mijwan, his home town in Uttar Pradesh. It was his zeal and consistent hard work that transformed a sleepy village into a progressive address of India that today boasts of electricity, cement roads, hospital, a railway station, primary and secondary school, college with computer facility.

After Kaifi Azmi’s demise in 2002 his daughter Shabana Azmi has carried forward his legacy and tirelessly worked for the progress of her father’s village. Early this year, Shabana and her God child Namrata Goyal came up with an extra-ordinary idea of introducing the weavers of Mijwan to the world. Supporting her in the cause were ace fashion designers Manish Malhotra and Anita Dongre.

Malhotra and Dongre came forward to mentor Mumbai’s leading fashion colleges to design costumes using the Chikannkari work. It was an ambitious plan that involved coordinating with various people but fortunately everything fell into place. The fashion show titled Mijwan Sonnets was held at Mumbai suburban hotel and participated by top film stars and fashion models. Due to constraints in space, the hair and makeup were set up in two large common rooms and all the actors sat next to each other to get ready. The green room buzzed with excitement as Urmila Matondkar, Farhan Akhtar, Bobby Deol and Konkana Sen embraced and chatted with each other as they got their hair and face done up by the experts.

It was a spectacular evening spilling over with celebrities both on and off stage. If Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Diya Mirza dazzled on the stage, Yash Chopra, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Gul Panang and Kirron Kher smiled at the participants from the audience. Boman Irani entertained the guests with a song and few jokes. The winners were judged by Parmeshwar Godrej, Twinkle Khanna and Shaina NC. Aishwarya Rai distributed the certificates to the runners up and to the winners.

Namrata Goyal delivered a heartfelt speech on what motivated her to mobilize the youth and take this forward. Kaifi Azmi’s wife, Shaukat Kaifi who was in the audience recited a poem by him that spoke about the progress of women. Shabana introduced the weaver and students of Mijwaan who had come for the special occasion and gave insight into their rural world. It was an emotional evening for everyone especially for the family, a day of remembering the great poet and his philosophy.

Shabana ended the evening with a couplet of her father – “Pyaar ka jashn ek nayi tarah se manana hoga…Dard kisi dil mein sahi, is dard ko mitana hoga…”

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The same night was the premiere of Big Films Avatar. It is a film that producer-director James Cameron has been working on for more than ten years. The script has gone through innumerable drafts and retains very little of what they started with, even the title and concept of the film has changed. Originally the film was titled Project 880 but Cameron altered it to the more intriguing Avatar and has no qualms about admitting that the film is semi autobiographical.

It is by far the most expensive film ever made by Hollywood but the production house is more than confident of recovering the investment. For a film that is only forty percent of live shooting and sixty percent what they call- Photo Realistic CGI, it is a big experiment in 3D technology. It is being released in India alone with 600 prints in four languages – English, Hindi, Telegu and Tamil.

Like all films there are some merits and demerits. It is too long – 60 minutes- and there are too many special effects. The visual and sound quality makes you feel you are in the planet and after a point your heart craves to take a break from the alien world. Watching a 3D film is a novelty but not all will have access to the 3D theatres and not all can relish the technology quotient overpowering the emotion quotient.

The good thing about the film is the original concept. Like his earlier films, this one is a refreshing idea and tells the story of a group of humans trying to encroach an alien world and what transpires. It reflects the mind of a supremely creative genius who has the imagination to create floating fish, flying saucer, aliens with blue skin, space crafts, unseen creatures and props.

For me the most important part of the film is that it is probably for the first time that such a high budget film has a woman – Sigmourey Weaver – as the central character. Past examples reveal that filmmakers will never risk a high budget film with a woman protagonist unless of course it is a love story. It is said that Cameron too had originally wanted a hero in her role but changed his mind at the last minute for he felt that a woman is more driven by instinct and would be better for the part. The director has confessed in his interviews that the character of Grace- Perfectionist and compassionate- is in fact an extension of him.

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It is the second time a Marathi film has been entered for the nominations for Oscars – After Shwaas a few years ago we have Harishchandrachi Factory directed by Paresh Mokashi. Mokashi is overjoyed with the responses to his film and cannot wait for the India release on January 22. He is gearing up for a dubbed Hindi version even though many feel that the flavour of the dialogues will be lost in translation but the director still feels it is worth the compromise if the film can be reached to a wider audience and I agree with him.

It is 110th birth anniversary of Sane Guruji, activist, freedom fighter and time to remember Shyamchi Aai written over eight decades ago. While most stories praise a mother for her ability to give life, Shyamchi Aai is unique in its portrayal of a mother as the one who imparts her children with their first lessons and life affirming values. It is a story that appeals even after so many years.

Bhawana Somaaya
www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Blurb
It was a spectacular evening spilling over with celebrities both on and off stage.If Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Diya Mirza dazzled on the stage, Yash Chopra, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Gul Panang and Kirron Kher smiled at the participants from the audience. Boman Irani entertained the guests with a song and few jokes.The winners were judged by Parmeshwar Godrej,Twinkle Khanna and Shaina NC. Aishwarya Rai distributed the certificates to the runners up and to the winners.